Art show promotes mental health awareness in Kern County

Overall, young adults reported the poorest mental health and the most shame around mental disorders.

What does the expert say about the mental illnesses stereotypes?

"It's helped me calm down, it slows my mind down", said McCallin.

She said it's estimated that 25 percent of all completed suicides are by individuals with a bipolar disorder diagnosis and that a diagnosis of schizophrenia is accompanied by 10 times the risk of completing suicide. However, many patients are confined to mental health facilities against their will, some for months or even years. "You are here to stand against stigma and to unite and remove the barriers to treatment, housing, and quality of life and to take the next step in decriminalizing mental illness so that the next generation may speak powerfully of our successes". In addition to being among the panelists at the Silence the Shame event, Dr. S has also used his wealth of experience and training as a Doctor of Social Work and a New Licensed Clinical Social Worker to initimate thousands on people about mental health, recognized by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for his huge effort of using Hip hop music to help his clients open up about mental health.

People who had experience with mental health disorders were more likely to be comfortable with them.

"Sometimes people forget to think or focus on that, but if you're not mentally well and not feeling healthy mentally, the impact on your whole life can be pretty significant".

Prof Chima adds that, for South Africans living with mental disorders to realise their rights and freedoms enshrined in law, greater efforts are needed to eliminate stigma and tackle inequalities in the distribution of mental health resources.

"The results of this survey are encouraging, and a signal that APA's and others' work over the years to promote mental health care is paying off", Evans said in an APA news release. Most mental illnesses don't improve on their own and, if untreated, a mental illness may get worse over time and cause serious problems. "This conference will create opportunities for an important dialogue on global strategies, to protect the most vulnerable in our society", he says.

He shared the example of the Health Promotion Board providing on-site management training workshops to equip managers and HR professionals with skills to recognise and address common mental health issues; and also its workplace mental health programmes that provide practical tips.

Africa Health has brought the internationally renowned MEDLAB Series - a portfolio of medical laboratory exhibitions and conferences across the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Americas - on-board as one of the highlights of the exhibition series.